SWOT analysis of distance learning for engineering students and strategies to improve the quality of learning

Unlike teaching theoretical subjects, teaching practical subjects have differences and require some special considerations. In a higher education institution (HEI) with a technical focus, learning practical skills is most often associated with seminars and laboratory exercises, specialized materials and equipment, smaller learner group sizes, and often longer blocks of time (a discipline’s instructional hour) for practical training. In distance learning (DL), teaching practical skills poses significantly more difficulties than teaching theory. The purpose of this paper is to present a SWOT analysis for DL of engineering students. With the help of this analysis, decisions can be made to improve the quality of distance education. This SWOT analysis presents some of the main aspects of DL for engineering specialties in HEIs and can serve as a starting point for a more detailed study of the situation encountered in DL.